ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

I feel for you. Hopefully he draws Rafa first round and gets triple bagelled

Mattek-Sands' shorts look like a television test pattern. Perfection.

omg Wozniacki/Goerges is so so so so bad I can't look away

I see Stosur blew a lead, needed a third-set TB and took four MPs to beat MADISON BRENGLE...

This is such a tank job from Radwanska. BMS can run hot and cold but this is ridiculous.

Fortunately I also like Mattek-Sands, so, er tank up and rest up good for Melbourne, A-Rad.

BMS' netplay has been SO RIDICULUOUSLY IMPRESSIVE. the dropshot followed by angled forehand volley winner was immense.

watching her attempt to serve this out should be fun. forehand that bounced about ten times before hitting the net + mishit backhand to go down 0-30

loses serve after having a MP, hahaha NID. hitting a FH slice in the net shows just how nervy she is.

Errani-like serving. Hitting the ball back to BMS rather than even trying to move her around. LOLOLOL. Why couldn't Petra be in this section?

why is pironkova winning matches all of a sudden? not that i'm complaining.

As much as I can tell from watching on TV (could I find anyone in town to go with? No. Why must other people have jobs?) the courts are playing pretty fast, plus Shvedova (as likeable as she is) is frequently pathetic.

whens the next slam, non-slam thread

monday

ty

Kvitova looked uber today v McHale. Wasn't televised here but it's on YouTube. She's moving well, she even does an A-Rad-esque squat shot, ran lots of stuff down, hit lots of unreturnable serves and her groundstrokes were mostly controlled. WIN EVERYTHING PETRA.

The already-massive overexposure of Dimitrov is going to make me hate him so much so quickly. Kill him, Kei. Oh but it's too late because this VERY IMPORTANT EXHIBITION is being shown instead of Petra. FUCK I HATE TV.

Pironkova d. Errani :D :D :D :D

Tsvetanaaaaaaaa :D

I like Errani but I think the fall cometh for her this year.

The fall also cometh for Kirsten Flipkens, based on what I just saw against Storm Sanders. Sanders was better than I was expecting from the usual AUS WC but Flipkens...BH slices all landing so short, all the rallies so aimless.

Ooh Aus Open Q draws out, time to start that thread after I pore over them

Pironkova's first SF since 2010, btw. Her last one was...Wimbledon

gulbis seeded 24 for australia

what chance he ever does anything significant at a gs

Zilch. I suspect he's as in love with the waste-of-talent label as the commentariat are.

Pironkova wins first set 6-4 over Kvitova.

She lost 6 matches in a row to end 2013 and in Shenzhen she lost Q2R to Golubic.

This is not a good game from Petra. She has been in winning positions in so many rallies and just smacked the ball into the net. I mean, is she that upset that her boyfriend lost to del Potro?

Classic Petra. Flop hardest when your fans' expectations are up!

What even was that! Not just bashing the ball into the net, but pushing it long, hitting double faults and then, ugh, losing match point on a botched challenge. I mean I like all four of the semi-finalists but still, this was a cake draw for a biggish title...

lmao the return of Shitra. Not entirely surprising - Pironkova took a set off Peak Petra when she won Wimbledon...

I personally am a fan of a Pironkova/Kerber final but it's pretty funny how much less marquee it is than Keys/Kvitova would have been.

ooh, nice wins for Bencic and Konjuh in AO qualifying. Bencic beat top seed Fichman easily.

Real shame that Konjuh has to have elbow surgery after the AO - the most impressive talent to come along in years and already being held back by injuries.

The Vandeweghe/Rodionova qualifying match must have been a feast of sportsmanship.

btw, if you didn't see Konjuh beating Vinci last week, the whole match is on youtube, but these highlights certainly showcase her talent -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE1vIcApHvM

This match happened four days after her 16th birthday...

I am a fan of the final we're getting too because the existence of Kerber seems to completely mystify hacks who can't think of anything to say about her. And her game when on is delightful.

Kerber is great. Love that running lefty FH DTL.

I'm surprised (and relieved tbh) she doesn't get more attention from the Pretty Girl Fanboys. She resembles Kournikova so much facially.

I know her name is pronounced Kon-yuh, but I just keep wanting to call her Ana the Konjuror . :/

digging those konjuh highlights. really attractive BH. FH reminds me of vaidisova. serve looks an utter mess though, which is one thing i really really don't need to be seeing in these up-and-comers

technique-wise? It's one of her biggest weapons as far as I can see, though granted in that match it took her a set to iron out the DFs.

Her FH is slightly worrying with the absolutely massive take-back, you can just see her being rushed and shanking everything on faster surfaces. but amazing power in it, and her BH is perfect.

WTF is up with Ferrer this season? Lost sets to Dolgopolov, Young and Garcia Lopez; lost matches to Brands and Lu. None of that is good.

Pironkova tun up! Banging BH return winner to take the first set

She won! So happy for her, I thought it was all over after that 10 minute game

I love her and her completely bizarre career. Three top 10 wins! Didn't drop a set...except in qualifying! First title...off grass!

She won 8 matches in this tournament, which is only three less than she won in the entirety of 2013.

Honestly, probably never seen her play this well even on grass though. BH was brilliant.

omg literally how are there still tennis commentators who think it's acceptable to talk incessantly throughout every rally. let me watch this rivetting watson/falconi match-up in peace!

also lol at zakopalova owning stosur. and they play AO 1R!

and i would be unsurprised to see pironkova flop 1r to soler-espinosa. hope i'm wrong though!

Del Potro making Tomic look like a complete joke. <3

Bepa back in action... please get some Slam / Indian Wells form going!

Vera Zvonareva ‏@verazvonareva 22m
Won my first doubles match since my comeback yesterday and singles today! Excited about upcoming challenges!!!

i saw the last few minutes of the match. the last point was an extended moonball rally that ended with an unforced error. welcome back, bepa!

Love Bepa and nice to see her back but I don't have a great deal amount of faith for this comeback. I'm really surprised it happened at all, thought she'd moved on to post-tennis life what with getting her Masters and all.

43yo Mrs. Krumm beat the in-form Muguruza, over half her age, 6-7 7-5 7-6 in nearly three hours in Pattaya. Amazing tbh

Anyone with me for the Davis Cup? James Ward has inexplicably taken Sam Querrey to a fifth set. There was a godawful brass band playing You Keep Me Hanging On earlier. The BBC commentators are going fucking bonkers over the prospect of us beating the US, but I've just remembered that Eurosport were better than the BBC for the Australian Open, so I've switched over. Already the tone is much more measured.

Jim Courier's suit seems to be talk of the town

I like the Mission Impossible look that the line judges are rocking. Querrey appears to have completely fallen apart.

Well, I have no idea where that came from, but well done James Ward.

haha i always forget davis cup is happening. my sporting patriotism is non-existent but this result is amazing/hilarious, esp considering it's an away tie

I forgot Ward beat Querrey at Queen's in 2011! Maybe not such a shocker after all.

http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/3653491/title/vote-now-januarys-shot-of-the-month

an actually decent promotional idea from the WTA, wonders will never cease

This should be between Petkorazzi or Pavs, really hope one of them takes it ahead of the bigger names. That Sharapova shot shouldn't even be there given that the point turned on a laughably bad Serena dropshot